I did take it out for a test drive.
She RUNS BEAUTIFULLY!!!! Purrs like a kitten.
I think I saw a bit of white smoke under load. I WAS running without an air cleaner. I suppose there will be some more dinking around to do, to get rid of all the smoke. I also suppose the smoke I saw, could have been coming from my road draft tube.
There are problems with the trans. I'll have to figure that out. Blinking "off" light. Harsh shifts. Etc. It was definitely in limp mode on the way there. It was a bit better on the way back. Much less harsh shifts. But the off light still blinking. I never got over 20MPH, so I don't have a good idea of it's condition, really.
Drove to a friend's house, about a mile away. Checked all the fluids there. The trans was down by 7 quarts total. I had already put in 3 quarts while sitting here, months ago. Yesterday, I added another 4. For a total of 7. Yes, I'll be watching for leaks.
Oil was right on. So I guessed that correctly when I put TWO gallons in, while sitting here on the hill.
And the coolant... Well, I have put a total of 3-1/2 gallons in. Some of that was because of loss when I changed the t-stat. But it looks like changing that t-stat was a very wise choice. The coolant is definitely circulating now, once it is warmed up. And before, yes, it was nice and clear and clean looking, but I think that's because it simply wasn't circulating.
Worst was the brakes.
I was over 2000 RPMs just getting up the small hills here. On the way there. Even in 4hi, I had to push the go pedal a lot, to get it to move.
On the way back, they were not as bad. I never got over 1400 RPMs on the way back.
I learned that the pedal stays down some, and so the brakes are applied some. I can be sitting on level ground in drive, stopped dead still. Pull up on the brake pedal with my foot, and the truck starts to inch forward. Still not as much as it would if the brakes were working correctly, but it's a good indicator that the problems are not
only out there at the wheels.
Still, I want to rebuild them. Hoping not to have to replace rotors or drums. But pretty much everything else is going to be up for grabs.
I have a friend who is going to help me with that, and I have until tuesday to locate all the parts I'll need. So I'll be pretty busy with research until then.
Today, however, I will probably spend most of the day trying to move the old 89 all the way to the top of the drive. Beyond, if possible, but at least to the top.
Yeah... Using THIS truck. And some logging rigging. Steel cables and logging pulleys, etc...
I'll use gravity to my advantage. Pulleys at the top of the hill. Cables run through those, from the old truck, back down to this one. And this truck below that one, on the hill. That way, while this one rolls downhill, that one gets pulled up the hill.